Well I finaly got the opportunity. Since we got no Starbucks here, but I transited in Amsterdam airport during vacation I couldnt resist trying a Starbucks cappocino... No sirups and stuff, just milk and coffee... And the experience was kinda unique. Scolding milk with a semi taste of burnt and a hint of stale coffee somewhere in there... I knew it wasnt going to be good, I knew I would regret it, but seriously? They can actually make a good buisness out of *that* ?!

Well it made me a lot more knowledgeable when it came to CG references... :)

Well I finaly got the opportunity. Since we got no Starbucks here, but I transited in Amsterdam airport during vacation I couldnt resist trying a Starbucks cappocino... No sirups and stuff, just milk and coffee... And the experience was kinda unique. Scolding milk with a semi taste of burnt and a hint of stale coffee somewhere in there... I knew it wasnt going to be good, I knew I would regret it, but seriously? They can actually make a good buisness out of *that* ?!

Well it made me a lot more knowledgeable when it came to CG references... :)

Starbucks is in the business of selling better tasting caffeine delivery vehicles. That's their niche and they do it extremely well.

FWIW their Espresso Roast is about the best coffee they sell. It really is not that bad, done as a drip or pour over.

Len

"Coffee leads men to trifle away their time, scald their chops, and spend their money, all for a little base, black, thick, nasty, bitter, stinking nauseous puddle water." ~The Women's Petition Against Coffee, 1674

The espresso roast is really not that bad. Years ago their original house blend was their most popular coffee; I am kind of surprised they replaced it with Pikes Place. The House Blend was very high in caffeine (got ya hooked); and I thought it even tasted better than their pike. Before I ever got into roasting I certainly was addicted to it. A while after I got into roasting I happened to stop at a Starbucks for a fix, and they had their Espresso Roast as a drip (they don't do it often). It actually was quite good. I even bought some of the beans once and ground it for drip when I was in a bind. Again, quite good.

Len

"Coffee leads men to trifle away their time, scald their chops, and spend their money, all for a little base, black, thick, nasty, bitter, stinking nauseous puddle water." ~The Women's Petition Against Coffee, 1674

I have only liked their Sumatra which they occasionally offer as drip. Not sure if they do that anymore. I haven't been there in years. They do have good tumblers though. :) IMO Starbucks is the top end of commercial quality coffee. Would I go there over home roasting no.. But travelling I don't mind their coffee. Coffee wise they smoke Timmies. Oh and I am a sucker for their pastries!

I have only liked their Sumatra which they occasionally offer as drip. Not sure if they do that anymore. I haven't been there in years. They do have good tumblers though. :) IMO Starbucks is the top end of commercial quality coffee. Would I go there over home roasting no.. But travelling I don't mind their coffee. Coffee wise they smoke Timmies. Oh and I am a sucker for their pastries!

I agree, they are the top end of commercial coffee. I used to go to Starbucks about once every other week and have their House Blend (when they used to have it), and also their Pikes Place. Sometimes their blondes. However ever since I got my Technivorm I have not gone to Starbucks. I now drink my coffee black (I used to drink it always with milk, sometimes sweetener at Starbucks). I really don't think drinking their coffee black will cut it, and I don't want to go back to milk in the coffee even just for them.

Len

"Coffee leads men to trifle away their time, scald their chops, and spend their money, all for a little base, black, thick, nasty, bitter, stinking nauseous puddle water." ~The Women's Petition Against Coffee, 1674

Im gonna take some kind of wierd stand here and agree with Lens original post. It is lame just to bash out with no reason, and for that I do apologize. I had a couple of hours to kill in Amsterdam, and wanted to taste what the whole you-can-always-do-better-than-starbucks was about. I had low expectations, but what I got was yet lower. And in some havent-really-written-anything-on-CG-in-a-week blackout, I actually thought it had some value, go figure. In retrospective, I always kinda knew it hadnt. Had that hope, that the post would just slide to page 2-3-4 without beeing noticed. Thats a bad sign, well we all f*** up sometimes :)

I had a whole other angle on your wife/mother thingie, but I'll let it all be, as you editted your post, Len.

As once upon a time, I used to like Starbucks and have moved past, way past them, am I allowed to bash them? LOL! I have tried a few times in the last year or so to find something, anything that I may like to drink there, even their pour over is nasty. I have said many times, and I mean it, I would rather stop at AM/PM or 7-11 than a Starbucks. The quality is better, there are just as many if not more stores to choose from and you are not paying the inflated price either. YMMV!

In real life, my name isWayne P.Anything I post is personal opinion and is only worth as much as anyone else's personal opinion. YMMV!

Like Starbucks? Try reading this article. The author found Starbucks plaques [C.A.F.E. (Coffee and Farmer Equity)] on farmhouses in the Nariņo area. From the article, a notable quote from a Colombian coffee farmer with that plaque attached to their home: "We were promised Starbucks was going to help us years ago. We're still waiting." Some of them have never even heard of Starbucks even though the plaque was attached to their homes as well. The company is flashing lights, thundering noise, glaring flames, and explosions on the retail front, but it is just a deceptive man behind a curtain.

As once upon a time, I used to like Starbucks and have moved past, way past them, am I allowed to bash them? LOL! I have tried a few times in the last year or so to find something, anything that I may like to drink there, even their pour over is nasty. I have said many times, and I mean it, I would rather stop at AM/PM or 7-11 than a Starbucks. The quality is better, there are just as many if not more stores to choose from and you are not paying the inflated price either. YMMV!

No doubt, Starbucks is bottom of the barrel, I could barely drink it even before I got into coffee. And last two time's I went I got straight black, which even mixing with sweetener and milk did not help the burnt log taste. And pour over next, blechhhh. I can drink a Frap there but at that point there's so much stuff added in it doesn't even resemble coffee anymore lol. When we travel we always Google for local roasters/coffee houses in the areas we're gonna be in.

I'll go to Dunkin Donuts or McDs etc easily over Charbucks.

Worst is when they sell Jamaican Blue etc, rip off, and if you buy a bag it's like 40 or 50 bucks for having that same Charbucks charm of stale burnt beans. I mean heck if your gonna do expensive JB at least try to attempt to do a decent job of roasting. I can tolerate their Anniversary Blend if it's worst case scenario and forgot to fresh order in time. But no point really when I have a few coffee places around me that get fresh beans in from roasters that I can buy, and for less money then *bucks charges for a pound.

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